One of the nation’s peak bodies for accountants says the Labor Party’s plan to cap the dollar amount individuals can claim for tax agent services could result in small business owners being put under even more pressure from clients asking for accountancy work to be completed faster.

Bill ShortenHon Bill Shorten MP, Federal Member for Maribyrnong
Leader of the Opposition from 13.10.13 outlined the policy in his budget reply speech earlier this year by referencing 48 taxpayers who earned around $2.5 million in the 2014-15 financial year but were yet to pay income tax.

Australian technology venture capital firm Blackbird Ventures has led a $NZ6.7 million ($6 million) funding round in a New Zealand based startup, which has built an application to enable businesses to react to online customer feedback in real time.

The company, AskNicely has been around since 2014 when co-founders Aaron Ward and John Ballinger noticed a gap in the market for a system that would take the increasingly popular net-promoter-score (NPS) customer service metrics and enable customers to put them to immediate and practical use.

MYOB has called for Australian SMEs to consider the impact that a cybersecurity attack could have on their business and consider implementing stronger measures to ensure that an online security breach won’t mean having to close shop.

The knife edge on which many small businesses sit has been highlighted by research that shows just 50.7 per cent had positive cash flow as of June 2017.

Xero launched its Small Business Insights research on Tuesday which uses anonymised and aggregated data from more than 500,000 small businesses to deliver what Xero says is Australia’s most comprehensive picture of the conditions and health of small businesses.

Two Australian fintech startups will be showcasing their skills on a global stage in Singapore next week, having been selected among five finalists to take part in a global fintech industry challenge.

CurrencyVue and Assembly Payments beat out nearly 70 entrants from around the world to take part in the SWIFT gpi Industry Challenge, which will take place at the LATTICE80 event in Singapore on September 13 and 14. The competition, run by financial messaging platform SWIFT, will see startups from around the world working with 30 global banks to develop new services for SWIFT’s more than 11,000 members in 200 countries.

Accountants want the tax office to clearly define which businesses will be eligible for company tax cuts under the Turnbull government’s signature tax policy, but to avoid potential hot water, the tax man is remaining ambiguous.

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO Australian Taxation Office) has started processing small business company tax returns at the 27.5 per cent tax rate, but warns that businesses who are still using the higher 30 per cent rate need to seek an amendment themselves as the agency will not automatically do it.

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About Simeon Duncan

Simeon has over a decade of high-level experience in Australian federal politics. He worked in communications and campaign roles as a Senior Advisor providing strategic advice, training and support to three Opposition Leaders.